BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Massachusetts lawmakers held a virtual discussion Saturday calling for more of a focus on racial, ethnic, and other demographic disparities in the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Senator Ed Markey said during the livestream roundtable Saturday afternoon that equity needs to be the "number one priority" in all coronavirus vaccine distribution efforts.
"The digital divide has become a vaccine divide," Markey said. "And we must bridge it immediately."
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and state Representative Nika Elugardo also spoke at the online event.
"We knew early on, from the outset of the pandemic, what communities would be hardest hit," Pressley said, "because history has proven that."
Rep. Pressley had previously written to Governor Baker urging him to step up vaccination efforts in Black and Brown communities amid what she called "troubling reports" of growing racial disparities in vaccination and vaccine access across the state.
WBZ NewsRadio's Mike Macklin reports:
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Written by Brit Smith
(Photo: Getty Images)